This Week in Interceptions: Hey Tony!

As we all know, the interception is one of the most exciting plays in football, and it can change the momentum of a game in a heartbeat. Crazy diving interceptions, cleverly predicted route-jumping, and everyone’s favorite, the pick-six. Unfortunately, every interception means that some quarterback is going to be mocked, chewed out, or otherwise maligned. Either way, interceptions provide a shift from week to week that can decide the very outcome of games. We’ll take a look at all of these perspectives in the Interception Weekly.

First off, we would be remiss not to mention Richard Sherman’s game-tying pick-six of Matt Schaub in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s win over Houston last week. With a seven point lead over the Seahawks and needing another score to put the game away, Schaub threw a pass to tight end Owen Daniels with 2:40 left in the game and was picked off by Sherman, who promptly returned it 58 yards a touchdown. That defensive score forced the game into overtime, where the Seahawks did magical Seahawk things and won the game. Schaub threw two interceptions that day, but only one lost his team the game. Talk about a thin line.

So which quarterbacks had the pleasure of (literally) throwing away their team’s chances of winning this past Sunday? Well unfortunately, we can start that conversation with Tom Brady. We could have started with Eli Manning or Blaine Gabbert, but this is only for guys that actually had a chance of winning. So that brings us back to history’s greatest signal-caller, Tom Terrific Brady, who was picked off late in a loss to the Bengals. The Patriots came into this game 4-0, while Cincy had lost to the Browns a week earlier. They lost to the Browns! Somehow Cincy’s defense held New England to six points all day, only one week after they scored 30 against Atlanta. On New England’s last chance to tie the game, down 13-6 late in the fourth quarter, Brady heaved a desperate pass and was picked off by Pacman Jones. Desperate quarterbacks make for easy interceptions. Let’s move on, I’m going to start crying if I talk about this any longer.

Philip Rivers, party of one. We got a table for Rivers, party of one! That was the (admittedly gruff) hostess at the Super Talented but Terrible When It Counts Café, where Philip Rivers was dining once again on Sunday night/Monday crack of dawn. For years, Rivers and the Chargers have featured some great teams that just couldn’t get it done in crunch time. In recent history, the Raiders have featured…quite the opposite of some great teams. However, Oakland’s Last Hope Terrelle Pryor turned those tables and started the scoring early, leaving Rivers to play catch-up (which he did) and throw the ball more than his coach would have liked. When the fourth quarter rolled around, San Diego was trailing 17-27 with enough time to score twice and go for the win. Are you noticing a trend here? If not, we were looking for “Fourth Quarter Deficits” for 200. Anyway, to make a long story short, Rivers threw not one, but two interceptions in quite a short span of time to decidedly end the game and any good feelings Chargers fans had about him.

Now this next quarterback I’m about to name doesn’t technically deserve to be on this list, but in actuality he deserves it every bit as much as the guy who’s going to take the top spot. On Sunday the Broncos and Cowboys delivered a shootout for the ages in Jerry World (even Johnny Football showed up!) and boy, was it a doozy. There was touchdown after touchdown after big throw after great catch. Dallas opened up the scoring, with Dez Bryant putting on a clinic, and then Denver took over the scoreboard for a while. Suddenly, late in the third quarter, something only heard about folk tales happened. Peyton Manning threw his first interception of the season to Dallas corner Morris Claiborne. After the interception, the Cowboys took a 41-38 lead in the fourth quarter. If not for the heroics of one Tony Romo, Peyton’s mistake would have been remembered as the point that turned the game and maybe even Denver’s season. Instead, Romo stepped in and did what he does best.

What does Tony Romo do best, you ask? Why, throw crippling interceptions with the game on the line, of course! So, after he converted Claiborne’s interception into a three point lead, and threw another touchdown (he had five on the day) to Cole Beasley for what Dallas hoped would be the deciding lead in the fourth quarter. Of course, Denver tied the game and the Cowboys found themselves with the ball and about 2:40 left in the game. now, if I’m Jason Garrett in this situation, I’m thinking 1) Tony Romo away the game just last week against San Diego, and has been doing so for quite a few years, 2) I’m tied at 48 with the most dangerous offense in the league, we should probably run the ball, play a balanced drive, and try for the field goal 3) Crap, there’s two minutes left and Tony Romo is my quarterback. Garrett should have given Demarco Murray the ball. SHOULD have.

Instead, he allowed Romo to make the call, which went a little something like this. *Enter: Romo’s inner-monologue* “Hike! Okay, okay we got this, Tony. Just like last week, wait, no, opposite of last week. C’mon, we’ve come through plenty of times in the clutch. You know, like that one time everybody totally remembers and totally happened! Or, or, that other time! Yeah, I bet Jason remembers. Oh! Jason! I should definitely throw it to Jason…dangit, covered. Let’s see, there’s Demarco right in front of me really open and with room to run. Running backs don’t catch passes! Silly *snickers to self* Hmm…who else? Oh, Escobar! I can never remember whether his first or last name is Escobar. Oh, well, he’s open. That suspicious-looking linebacker definitely thinks I’m throwing it to Dez right now, doesn’t he? Ha! *Throws pass, intercepted* Intercepted?? By the linebacker who had a pick-six and threw the ball away? We’ve really got to get it together, Tony”.

That’s it for this edition of This Week in Picks, I hope you enjoyed it! As the weeks go on, we’ll analyze whose mistakes really changed games for their teams. I assume that Tony Romo will become something of a fixture here, if not our first Interception Weekly Hall-of-Famer. If I missed anybody, or if you see a guy who just has to be on this list for next week, feel free to let me know in the comments section! Until next time!